A King’s And Future King’s Words
by SLRisme
Summary: When Kovu doesn't show up for his own celebration, Simba goes out looking for him past the Pride Lands. When he finds Kovu by himself and talking only to himself, Simba learns new things about Kovu and tries to help the young lion out with words.


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"Shouldn't you be doing your other stories?!"

Yes, yes I should.

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_**Title: A King's And Future King's Words**_

His light brown eyes scanned the area for Kovu, but hadn't caught a single glance of him.

A despondent look crossed his furry features as Simba glanced from his daughter, Karai, then to his mate, Nala, but girls holding the same look on their features. The animals of the Pride Lands were all gathered together, having a grand feast from meats to berries, all in the celebration for the mating of Karai and Kovu, the two lions that would take Nala's and Simba's place for royalty when they would die. All of the animals were gathered in joy!

That is, all except the future king.

"…_**Kovu**_."

The growl slipped from his lips, his tail lashing back and forth behind his back, a calm look on his features, but how his eyes burned in rage. Oh, how his claws stretched in and out of his paws, the rocks under his paws crushing at the pressure he placed against them. His tail never stopped lashing out at anything and everything, as though it was a cobra that was ready to strike.

"I'm going to look for Kovu."

When Karai stood up from the spot she laid at, she immediately froze at the sound of her father giving off an angered growl, the king standing up from the spot he sat at. The cheers and laughter that once filled the Pride Lands had suddenly died down, all of the animals flinching at their growling king.

They relaxed though when they saw a smile cross his features.

"I will look for the boy."

His daughter and mate passed him a raised eyebrow, but she laid back down as her father jumped from boulder to boulder, heading down to the ground. When his paws touched the grass that was the ground of the Pride Lands, all of his citizens made a line for him to walk through, each and every single animal bowing their head at him as he passed.

Every animal, except Kovu.

As he walked through the Pride Lands, his eyes scanned at everything around him, from every rock to every branch for the young, male lion. After a while, Simba stopped trying to keep track of the time, numbly walking through the lands in a bitter pace. It wasn't until an hour later that he had caught sight of Kovu, who had his back turned from Simba.

The king kept the growl that wanted to escape inside himself, eyeing where the male lion sat, Kovu never noticing Simba. As Kovu sat there, staring down at the lake that was before his eyes, Simba merely sat on top of a hill, eyebrow raised. He opened his mouth to tell Kovu that he was there and wanted to speak with him about something, but Kovu opened his mouth first.

And let a loud, raging roar leave his lips.

Simba almost jumped out of his fur, his heart beating rapidly as he tried to calm himself down. In his entire life, he had never heard anyone roar that loud and angered!

He watched the scene unfold his eyes; Kovu smashed his paw through the water, pacing back and forth around the side of the lake, his eyes never looking away from the lake. The king leaned over slightly, seeing what Kovu was staring at in the water, what had made him so angry.

"…_It's only his reflection_…"

As the words left his lips, the male lion slammed his paw through the water again, growling.

"You must be happy, aren't you? You… You disgrace! It's because of you that I am this way! How you enjoy it though, don't you?!"

Kovu snarled at his reflection, never noticing that Simba was slowly and quickly stalking right behind him.

"You think I've betrayed you, but it is you that has betrayed! All my life I had been taught to hate the Pride Lands, taught to fight and not love, taught to hate all those who oppose me, taught to hate Simba! In only a few days though, I realize that it is not Simba that is wrong… But you and only you, Scar! And now, now…"

His paw clawed through the water again, as though trying to pull his reflection right out of the water.

"Now I have this scar on my face!"

The lion stood up from his spot, turning away with his eyes narrowed, pacing back and forth again. Simba let an ease sigh escape his lips, he was only a few feet away from Kovu, and was worried that the boy would attack him out of rage.

"Days ago I would have been proud to have this scar on my face, this scar that was the same scar on your face, Scar… Now I wish to bare it from my face. You like this scar though, oh… I know you do. You love this scar on my face. You love it for the fact that it shows that you'll always be inside of me, no matter how good I am."

His eyes scanned up at the stars high above his head.

"I was told by a beautiful lion and a wise king that all of the kings and queens that have done well have stars printed after them."

His eyes gazed back down at the water, growling.

"I will not be up there, because of this scar."

A mocking laugh escaped his lips, never hearing Simba inching towards him.

"I see it all of their eyes, the people I shall rule over hate me, they can only stare at the scar on my eye in utter fear. I was told by my sister that they will look differently at me one day, but how am I sure? What if this scar on my face makes my future people scared of me, what if they tremble at my path just because I bare the same scar you did? What if they never change their minds?"

"One of the most important rules to being king, never doubt you people."

At the sound of the mighty voice, his head snapped around to come nose to nose with Simba, who merely sat there with a calm expression. The look of embarrassment clearly showed on Kovu's face, while the king gave him a smile, sitting by his side, both lions looking down at the water below them.

"You are not Scar."

"…What?"

"You are not Scar, Kovu. You are Kovu, and only Kovu, and shall only be Kovu. You are nothing like Scar, you may look like him, but your heart holds things in it that Scar didn't hold."

"What's that?"

"Love, trust, and honor. I've only seen him show any passion to Zari, and that was a once and a lifetime sight. You, on the other hand, bare all of these things and show each thing. That is what a true king is made out of."

"A true king doesn't scare his people."

"What do you mean? I do that all the time!"

The two lions shared a weak laugh, and even though it was weak, it was still a laugh.

"You… You weren't here long enough to see the evil that Scar showed all of us, and I think what scared us the most was that we thought he was one of the good guys. We all thought that he would have been printed up in the stars like all of the others, king or not."

Simba looked up at the sky, a sigh leaving his lips as Kovu stared at him in sadness.

"When we all found out that he was the one who let my father and his brother, Mufasa, die that fateful day, all of us were shocked. He may have been cranky and slightly mean, but he had taught me many things and defended those who needed defending. After we found that out though, we… All of those who were with Scar had to be banished, even you."

The king looked over at the future king, frowning at the sight of the young lion.

"I know now that I should have never banished the cubs for something they did not do, but I can not change the past… And sense then, every one of us has been scared and worried that you would betray us and take over the land. Most of us all know now that you will do no such thing, but others are still scared of you and your scar. It may be your scar, but a lot of us remember who else had a scar like that…"

"Scar."

"Yes, and they are just worried that you can't be trusted. Give it a few days, Kovu; they will all see that you are a mighty and true king. Time shall pass and all will be forgotten. Now, come on, we're out of the Pride Lands region and need to head back."

As he said this, the lion stood up, but Kovu didn't move a muscle. With a sigh, Simba sat himself down next to the young lion, looking over at his side with his eyebrow raised.

"Do… Do you think Mufasa is proud of your decision that I shall take over when you are gone?"

The question put the king in a state of shock, he didn't even think that Kovu would ask such a thing, let alone think of something like that.

"I know he would want you to rule over the Pride Lands when I am gone."

The glare and snarl Kovu gave him almost freaked him out, but the king kept a calm expression on his fur.

"Why do you say that, huh? Scar killed you father, I am supposed to be Scar, why would he be proud?!"

"Have you not heard a word that I have said? You are Kovu, not Scar; my father would know this better than anyone else."

"How do you know, though?"

"Easy, he tells me."

As the words escaped his lips, the wind around his brushed him cheeks, then the wind brushed up against Kovu, who was staring at the air around him in amazement.

"He speaks to me through the wind that he wanted you to rule over the lands when I am gone, he is the one that blew the leaves around you to tell me that you are the one, he's the one that shines rays of sunlight down on Karai and you when I was in doubt. I know Mufasa wants you, it's a decision we both made together."

"Yeah, but what if you're just crazy and Mufasa isn't in the wind and…"

Kovu's sentence ended when the back of his head was hit with a rock that came out of no-where, rubbing the back of his head with his paw as Simba smirked in his direction

"He also doesn't like being called wrong."

With that, he stood up from his post again, heading off towards where the hill was, looking back at Kovu with cool eyes as soon as he got on top of the hill.

"Are you coming or are you just going to sit there?"

"Uh, yeah, yeah… I'm coming."

"Oh, and Kovu?"

"Yeah?"

"You may even be a better king than I will ever be."

As soon as the words left him, Simba raced down the hill, a laugh leaving him as Kovu raced towards his side, crying out his name.

The king grinned behind his back at the future king, running ahead as the future king chased after him, neither of them knowing that the past king was watching them with a soft smile.

**The End.**

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"Would you like favorites with the side of reviews?"

"Why, yes, please. They're my favorite."

"I will have that order ready for you. Thank you and have a wonderful day."

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